Stockdale edges Frontier in SWYL showdown
| Friday, Nov 06 2009 11:56 PM
Last Updated Friday, Nov 06 2009 11:56 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's runningback Isaiah Turner gains some yards during first half action, Friday, against Frontier, at Stockdale.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's runningback Spenser Prince was happy with his touchdown run, as the referee makes the call, Friday night at Stockdale against Frontier High.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's Malik Henderson, runs for some yardage, Friday night at Stockdale while playing Frontier High.
Casey Christie / The Californian Frontier's BJ Nard runs back an interception, while Stockdale's Andrew Garcia goes for the tackle during Friday night action at Stockdale.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's Nic Shannon tries to maneuver his way around a Frontier defender, during Friday night action at Stockdale.
Casey Christie / The Californian A pass intended for Frontier's Jacob Adelman, right, is deflected by Stockdale's Kyle Desimone Friday night.
Casey Christie / The Californian After Frontier's Jacob Adelman scores, left, he is congratulated by teammate, Caleb Nobles, in mid-air, Friday, at Stockdale High.
Casey Christie / The Californian Stockdale's quarterback, Efren Venegas, pitches the ball to a player, while Frontier's #45, not on the roster, comes in for the tackle.
Unable to separate itself from Frontier either on the field or on the scoreboard, Stockdale laid in wait, then struck for a huge play when it mattered most.
Then the Mustangs held on for dear life.
In a showdown worthy of its league-championship status, Stockdale nipped Frontier 17-15 on Friday at Stockdale behind a blocked-punt return for a touchdown and two last-minute stands on defense.
"One of the hardest games we've had," whose team clinched at least a share of the Southwest Yosemite League title heading to next week's season finale at West. "We really had to hang in there."
Josh Legorreta hit Jacob Adelman for a 27-yard touchdown pass with 59 seconds left to pull Frontier (8-1, 4-1 SWYL) within two points, but Legorreta's pass on the ensuing two-point conversion try fell at DeShaunte Webber's feet.
But that stop wasn't enough. The Titans' Ian Driskill recovered an onside kick, and Stockdale needed a holding penalty and a sack from Duane Seaton to push Frontier back 14 yards on the next two snaps. Frontier eventually moved the ball to the Stockdale 42, but couldn't get off another snap as time ran out.
"Hats off to Frontier," Stockdale coach Mike Snow said. "They gave us fits all night, and they wouldn't quit at the end."
Stockdale (8-1, 5-0) was in that position because of a huge special-teams play earlier in the fourth quarter. Hank Hobson blocked a punt from Frontier's Matt Darr, and Isaiah Turner scooped the ball up for the Mustangs and rumbled 28 yards for a touchdown that gave Stockdale a 17-7 lead with just 5:08 left.
"I was just like, 'Yes, this game is ours,'" Turner said.
Stockdale implemented a new punt-rush scheme for the game, sending more blockers from the middle of the line instead of the outsides, and it paid off against Darr, a USC commit who had boomed a 58-yarder earlier in the game.
"We knew turnovers and special teams were going to decide this game," Frontier coach Rich Cornford said. "We did a good job with the onside kick to get ourselves back into it, but blocked punts are about as big as it gets."
Cornford said that though Stockdale was a senior-laden team that won the SWYL a year ago, his squad still was disappointed.
"When you have the expectations we do, there's no moral victories," he said. "... Our goal was to win a league championship. We can go toe-to-toe with anybody in the Valley, and we proved that tonight. I wish we had more shots to prove it."
Actually, the Titans out-played Stockdale for much of the first half, taking a 7-0 lead on a 43-yard Legorreta-to-Adelman connection early in the second quarter. They still held that lead in the final minute of the first half when Stockdale struck for its first big play.
Jeremy Bispo intercepted Legorreta with 27 seconds left in the half and returned the ball to the Frontier 30. Add on a personal-foul penalty, and Stockdale got the ball at the 15 with 10 seconds left. Quarterback Efren Venegas hit Spenser Prince for the tying touchdown on the next play.
"Huge," Snow said. "It gives us the ball, flips the field, and then we score from it."
After the night's other big play ? Turner's touchdown ? Legorreta threw a fourth-down interception inside the Stockdale 2-yard line. Three plays later, though, Frontier's defense tackled Malik Henderson in the end zone for a safety, then took the ensuing safety kick and marched it down for the TD that cut the lead to two.
"We kept recussitating them with stupidity and lack of making plays on offense," Snow said. "... A couple mental errors there, but then our defense had the ability to shut them down."
That was the case the whole second half. After starting the game 5-of-7 for 127 yards, Legorreta misfired on six straight passes, two of them interceptions, as the Titans went three-and-out three straight possessions in the third and early fourth quarters.
"Our kids have just played great defense," Snow said. "And they did it tonight with their backs against the wall most of the night."
Henderson, playing his first game after a knee injury held him out three weeks, led Stockdale with 94 yards on 13 carries.
Legorreta did rally the Titans late in the game. He finished 18-of-36 for 278 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. Adelman had seven catches for 140 yards and the two TDs. Meanwhile, the Titans defense kept Stockdale in check for most of the night ? the Mustangs had just one drive all night longer than 50 yards "They gave us fits with their defensive line all night," Snow said.
But on the plays that mattered most, Stockdale came through.
"It means a lot," Turner said. "We felt like this league is ours."
